Museum & Heritage Case study
Policing 80 million specimens, at home and on tour
Eltek has worked with the Natural History Museum for over a decade. When its “Treasures of the Natural World” exhibition went on a five-year world tour, Eltek gave conservators a way to watch over the specimens from London, as if each venue were simply another zone on their own system.
80M+
Specimens
~600
Eltek transmitters
5 yrs
Touring exhibition monitored
10+ yrs
Eltek partnership
A collection of global significance
The Natural History Museum holds an estimated 80 million-plus specimens, a scientific resource used by researchers worldwide, alongside famous public galleries. Many items are highly sensitive to light, temperature and fluctuations in relative humidity, which drive the cycles of expansion and contraction that crack, warp and degrade organic material.
Monitoring a touring exhibition
Sending irreplaceable specimens abroad raised a hard question: how do you reassure curators that the collection is safe thousands of miles away? Eltek’s answer combined proven wireless telemetry with 3G mobile data, using the SRV250 Gateway data logger to transmit readings to any location on the globe.
The system was designed to be plug-and-play: transmitters were configured on the logger before it was shipped, so on arrival the equipment was simply unpacked, the clock set, and it was ready to go. Five transmitters sat in display cases and one in the open gallery at each venue, viewable back in London with no extra steps.
“Being able to see the relative humidity, temperature and light data at the click of a button is very useful… In effect we can police our specimens remotely.”
The platform
The Darca solutions behind it
One connected platform, Collect, Connect and Command, configured for this application.
Darca Connect
The SRV250 Gateway relays wireless readings over 3G mobile data, so a touring venue appears as just another zone on the museum’s system.
Explore
Darca Command
Conservators view relative humidity, temperature and light, and calculate lux hours, from London, wherever the exhibition is in the world.
Explore
